Mr Lere Olayinka, Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media to FCT minister Nyesom Wike, has exonerated the minister from the protracted political crisis in oil-rich Rivers.
Olayinka, in a statement in Abuja, blamed the crisis on Gov. Siminalayi Fubara, Wike’s successor.
Olayinka was reacting to a statement attributed to Afenifere Chieftain, Dr Femi Okurounmu, which accused Wike of being “the architect and masterminder of Rivers’ crisis”.
Okurounmu had argued that even if Fubara was his godson, Wike should realise that a sitting governor with full powers wouldn’t be a surrogate to anyone.
But Olayinka, in the statement, said that Wike had never asked Fubara to be his surrogate.
Wike, he added, has never asked Fubara not to function as the Governor of Rivers.
He advised Okurounmu, as an elder, to be honest enough to enquire of the role Wike played in making Fubara governor.
“In Yorubaland, when two children are fighting, what the elders do is to sit them down and listen to all sides of the conflict.
“Elders don’t just sit in their bedrooms and apportion blame as done by Okurounmu.
“Was it Wike that went to the Rivers State House of Assembly Complex and set it on fire, to prevent duly elected lawmakers from carrying out their duties?
“Is it Wike that has been illegally using three members, out of the 32 in the State House of Assembly, to carry out legislative business in Rivers State, including passing the State Budget?
“These three members have screened and confirmed commissioners when the constitution says that a budget can only be passed by two-third of the Assembly members. Was Wike responsible for that?”
He accused Fubara of ignoring court judgments meant to restore order to Rivers.
The media aide particularly recalled a Court of Appeal judgment on Oct. 10 affirming a lower court’s decision nullifying the Rivers State’s 2024 budget signed into law and currently being used by Fubara.
“Did the governor obey the judgment?
“Is it not shocking that Okurounmu has chosen to ignore the danger Fubara’s deliberate disregard for the rule of law is posing to democracy and peace in Nigeria?,” he queried.
The media aide also expressed dismay over Okurounmu’s comments accusing President Bola Tinubu of being laid-back on the Rivers political crisis.
“What exactly was Tinubu expected to have done? Overrule the various judicial pronouncements and support Fubara’s open disregard for the rule of law?,” he asked.
He advised Okurounmu to avoid getting involved in matters capable of ridiculing his status as an elder statesman, “especially matters on which he would not speak objectively”.
He wondered why Okurounmu, a former Senator, could opt to play the ostrich in view of the avalanche of disobedience to court judgments by Fubara.
According to him, such an affront on the judiciary is endangering democracy and peace.
A Federal High Court in Abuja had, on Oct. 30, barred the Central Bank of Nigeria from disbursing monthly allocations to the Rivers government.
In her ruling, Justice Joyce Abdulmalik cited alleged constitutional violations by Fubara, and described his presentation of the 2024 budget to a four-member House of Assembly as “a breach on constitutional protocol”.
On his part, Fubara, on Nov. 4, blamed the current political crisis in the state on the quest to control the state’s resources, and vowed to protect everything that belong to Rivers.
